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    Definition of 'Murabaha'An Islamic financing structure, where an intermediary buys a property with free and clear title to

    it. The intermediary and prospective buyer then agree upon a sale price (including an agreed

    upon profit for the intermediary) that can be made through a series of installments, or as a lump

    sum payment.

    Investopedia explains 'Murabaha'Murabaha is not an interest-bearing loan, which is considered riba (or excess). Murabaha is an

    acceptable form of credit sale under Sharia (Islamic religious law). Similar in structure to a rent

    to own arrangement, the intermediary retains ownership of the property until the loan is paid in

    full.

    It is important to note that to prevent riba, the intermediary cannot be compensated in addition to

    the agreed upon terms of the contract. For this reason, if the buyer is late on their payments, the

    intermediary cannot charge any late penalties.

    Read more:http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/murabaha.asp#ixzz1gUqLl7mV

    WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 04, 2006

    Al - MurabahaMurabaha is one of the most commonly used modes of financing by Islamic Banks and

    financial institutions.

    Definition

    Murabahah is a particular kind of sale where the seller expressly mentions the cost of the

    sold commodity he has incurred, and sells it to another person by adding some profit

    thereon. Thus, Murabahah is not a loan given on interest; it is a sale of a commodity for

    cash/deferred price.

    The Bai' Murabahah involves purchase of a commodity by a bank on behalf of a client and

    its resale to the latter on cost-plus-profit basis. Under this arrangement the bank discloses

    its cost and profit margin to the client. In other words rather than advancing money to a

    borrower, which is how the system would work in a conventional banking agreement, the

    bank will buy the goods from a third party and sell those goods on to the customer for a pre-agreed price.

    Murabahah is a mode of financing as old as Musharakah. Today in Islamic banks world-

    over 66% of all investment transactions are through Murabahah.

    Difference between Murabahah and Sale

    http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/murabaha.asp#ixzz1gUqLl7mVhttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/murabaha.asp#ixzz1gUqLl7mVhttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/murabaha.asp#ixzz1gUqLl7mVhttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/murabaha.asp#ixzz1gUqLl7mV
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    A simple sale in Arabic is called Musawamah- a bargaining sale without disclosing or

    referring to what the cost price is. However when the cost price is disclosed to the client it is

    called Murabahah. A simple Murabahah is one where there is cash payment and

    Murabahah Muajjal is one on deferred payment basis.

    Arguments against Murabahah

    An argument that arises in Murabahah is that profit or interest both are the same and

    Murabahah financing is the same as conventional banking. Islamic scholars however argue

    that in several respects a Murabahah financing structure is quite different to an overdraft

    organized along conventional lines and the former offers several benefits to the bank and its

    customers. Depositors are made to share in profits of the bank as a result of this financing.

    The basic difference is however the Aqd or the contract which covers the Islamic conditions.

    If the contract has interest element then it will be void.

    Basic rules for MurabahahFollowing are the rules governing a Murabahah transaction:

    1. The subject of sale must exist at the time of the sale. Thus anything that may not exist at

    the time of sale cannot be sold and its non-existence makes the contract void.

    2. The subject matter should be in the ownership of the seller at the time of sale. If he sells

    something that he has not acquired himself then the sale becomes void.

    3. The subject of sale must be in physical or constructive possession of the seller when he

    sells it to another person. Constructive possession means a situation where the possessor

    has not taken physical delivery of the commodity yet it has come into his control and all

    rights and liabilities of the commodity are passed on to him including the risk of itsdestruction.

    4. The sale must be instant and absolute. Thus a sale attributed to a future date or a sale

    contingent on a future event is void. For example, 'A' tells 'B' on 1st January that he will sell

    his car on 1st February to 'B', the sale is void because it is attributed to a future date.

    5. The subject matter should be a property having value. Thus a good having no value

    cannot be sold or purchased.

    6. The subject of sale should not be a thing used for an un-Islamic purpose.

    7. The subject of sale must be specifically known and identified to the buyer. For Example,

    'A' owner of an apartment building says to 'B' that he will sell an apartment to 'B'. Now the

    sale is void because the apartment to be sold is not specifically mentioned or pointed to thebuyer.

    8. The delivery of the sold commodity to the buyer must be certain and should not depend

    on a contingency or chance.

    9. The certainty of price is a necessary condition for the validity of the sale. If the price is

    uncertain, the sale is void.

    10. The sale must be unconditional. A conditional sale is invalid unless the condition is

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    recognized as a part of the transaction according to the usage of the trade.

    Step by step Murabahah Financing :

    1. The client and the institution sign an overall agreement whereby the institution promises

    to sell and the client promises to buy the commodity from time to time on an agreed ratio of

    profit added to the cost. This agreement may specify the limit up-to which the facility may beavailed.

    2. An agency agreement is signed by both parties in which the institution appoints the client

    as his agent for purchasing the commodity on its behalf.

    3. The client purchases the commodity on behalf of the institution and takes possession as

    the agent of the institution.

    4. The client informs the institution that it has purchased the commodity and simultaneously

    makes an offer to purchase it from the institution.

    5. The institution accepts the offer and the sale is concluded whereby ownership as well as

    risk is transferred to the client.

    All the above conditions are necessary to effect a valid Murabahah. If the institution

    purchases the commodity directly from the supplier, it does not need any agency

    agreement.

    The most essential element of the transaction is that the commodity must remain in the risk

    of the institution during the period between the third and the fifth stage.

    The above is the only way by which this transaction is distinguished from an ordinary

    interest-based transaction.

    Issues in Murabahah

    Following are some of the issues in Murabahah financing:

    1. Securities against Murabahah

    Payments coming from the sale are receivables and for this, the client may be asked to

    furnish a security. It can be in the form of a mortgage or hypothecation or some kind of lien

    or charge.

    2. Guaranteeing the Murabahah

    The seller can ask the client to furnish a 3rd party guarantee. In case of default on payment

    the seller may have recourse to the guarantor who will be liable to pay the amount

    guaranteed to him.

    There are two issues relating to this:

    a) The guarantor cannot charge a fee from the original client. The reason being that a

    person charging a fee for advancing a loan comes under the definition of riba.

    b) However the guarantor can charge for any documentation expenses.

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    3. Penalty of default

    Another issue with Murabahah is that if the client defaults in payment of the price at the due

    date, the price cannot be changed nor can penalty fees be charged.

    In order to deal with dishonest clients who default in payment deliberately, they should be

    made liable to pay compensation to the Islamic Bank for the loss suffered on account of

    default.

    However these should be made subject to the following conditions:

    a) The defaulter may be given a grace period of at-least one-month.

    b) If it is proven beyond doubt that the client is defaulting without valid excuse then

    compensation can be demanded.

    4. Rollover in Murabahah

    Murabahah transaction cannot be rolled over for a further period as the old contract ends. It

    should be understood that Murabahah is not a loan rather the sale of a commodity, which is

    deferred to a specific date. Once this commodity is sold, its ownership transfers from thebank to the client and it is therefore no more a property of the seller. Now what the seller

    can claim is only the agreed price and therefore there is no question of effecting another

    sale on the same commodity between the same parties.

    5. Rebate on earlier payments

    Sometimes the debtors want to pay early to get discounts. However in Islam, majority of

    Muslim Scholars including the major schools of thought consider this to be un-Islamic.

    However if the Islamic bank or financial institution gives somebody a rebate on its own, it is

    not objectionable especially if the client is needy.

    6. Calculation of cost in Murabahah

    The Murabahah can only be effected when the seller can ascertain the exact cost he has

    incurred in acquiring the commodity he wants to sell. If the exact cost cannot be ascertained

    then Murabahah cannot take place. In this case the sale will take place as Musawamah i.e.

    sale without reference to cost.

    7. Subject matter of the sale

    All commodities cannot be the subject matter in Murabahah because certain requirements

    need to be fulfilled. The shares of a lawful company can be sold or purchased on

    Murabahah basis because according to the principles of Islam the shares representownership into assets of the company provided all other basic conditions of the transaction

    are fulfilled. A buy back arrangement or selling without taking their possession is not

    allowed at all.

    Murabahah is not possible on things that cannot become the subject of sale. For example,

    Murabahah is not possible in exchange of currencies.

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    Basic mistakes in Murabahah Financing

    Some basic mistakes that can be made in practical implications of the concept are as

    follows:

    1. The most common mistake is to assume that Murabahah can be used for all types oftransactions and financing. This mode can only be used when a commodity is to be

    purchased by the customer. If funds are required for some other purpose Murabahah

    cannot be used.

    2. The document is signed for obtaining funds for a specific commodity and therefore it is

    important to study the subject matter of the Murabahah.

    3. In some cases, the sale of commodity to the client is affected before the commodity is

    acquired from the supplier. This occurs when the various stages of the Murabahah are

    skipped and the documents are signed all together. It is to be remembered that Murabahahis a package of different contracts and they come into play one after another at their

    respective stages.

    4. It is observed in some financial institutions that Murabahah is applied on already

    purchased commodities, which is not allowed in Shariah and can be effected on not yet

    purchased commodities.

    Uses of Murabahah

    Murabahah can be used in following conditions:Short / Medium / Long Term Finance for:

    Raw material

    Inventory

    Equipment

    Asset financing

    Import financing

    Export financing (Pre-shipment)

    Consumer goods financing

    House financing

    Vehicle financing Land financing

    Shop financing

    PC financing

    Tour package financing

    Education package financing

    All other services that can be sold in the form of package (i.e. services like education,

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    medical etc. as a package)

    Securitization of Murabahah agreement (certificate) is allowed at par value only. Other wise

    certain rules of Islamic Finance must be met.

    Bai' Muajjal

    Bai' Muajjal is the Arabic acronym for "sale on deferred payment basis". The deferred

    payment becomes a loan payable by the buyer in a lump sum or installment (as agreed

    between the two parties). In Bai' Muajjal all those items can be sold on deferred payment

    basis which come under the definition of capital where quality does not make a difference

    but the intrinsic value does. Those assets do not come under definition of capital where

    quality can be compensated for by the price and Shariah scholars have an 'ijmah'

    (consensus) that demanding a high price in deferred payment in such a case is permissible.

    Conditions for Bai' Muajjal

    1. The price to be paid must be agreed and fixed at the time of the deal. It may include any

    amount of profit without qualms about riba.

    2. Complete/total possession of the object in question must be given to the buyer, while the

    deferred price is to be treated as debt against him.

    3. Once the price is fixed, it cannot be decreased in case of earlier payment nor can it be

    increased in case of default.

    4. In order to secure the payment of price, the seller may ask the buyer to furnish a security

    either in the form of mortgage or in the form of an item.

    5. If the commodity is sold on installments, the seller may put a condition on the buyer that if

    he fails to pay any installment on its due date, the remaining installments will become due

    immediately.

    MurabahaAmong all the modes of Islamic finance, murabahahas played the most important role. Banks annual reports reveal

    that since the 1970s murabahahas been steadily responsible for the employment of about 8090% of Islamic banks

    resources. Murabahain traditional fiqh(Islamic jurisprudence) is a spot sale contract where the price is based on a

    cost plus profit margin formula. The contract has been modified to include bai ajil(deferred payment sale) and

    renamed as Murabahato the Order of the Purchaser. According to the new contract, the banks customer orders the

    purchase of a prescribed commodity that is available in the domestic or the foreign market. If the customers

    creditability is satisfactory, the bank buys the commodity, adding its markup to the market price. The bank accepts

    payment for the commodity in installments, which normally stretch over one year or more. When murabahapurchase

    is made by means of importation from foreign markets, letters of credit and foreign conventional banks are involved,

    and necessary shariahprecautions are taken to avoid payment of interest at any step.

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    Murabaha, which has established a flexible mechanism for extending interest-free trade credit on short- and medium-

    term bases to households and firms, has also played a significant role in financing smal l and microenterprises (for

    example Faisal Banks Um Dorman branch in Sudan). Banking risk involved in murabahaoperations is significantly

    reduced by customers undertaking to fulfill the contract once the commodity is purchased and by collaterals in the

    form of mortgage rights given to the bank over the purchased commodity until its price is fully paid.

    The practice of murabahahas been the subject of criticism. It is held against Islamic banks that they are frequently

    guided by prevailing interest rates in determining their profit margin (markup) when they should instead consider

    market conditions for deferred payment sale, as intended in shariah. Also, (for instance in Pakistan) banks have

    sometimes not acted as purchasers and have merely financed customers in equivalent cash to the ordered

    commodity price plus markup. In this case the markup charged by the bank above the commodity price is no different

    from interest, which is prohibited.

    Pakistan Today - By:Humayon DarFriday, 26 Aug 2011 12:16 am:

    Murabaha is the most commonly used mode of financing in Islamic banking and finance.

    Murabaha is derived from the Arabic word ribh which means profit. Murabaha is a

    contract between a seller and a buyer, which requires the seller to disclose its profit to thebuyer. This is considered more efficient as compared to an ordinary sale contract in terms of

    its informational efficiency, especially in the less developed markets that otherwise may not

    reveal full information on prices. Murabaha has historically been used for trading in goods

    that may not have well-developed markets in them. One obvious advantage of buying on a

    murabaha basis is that the buyer knows for sure what additional amount of money he is

    paying to the seller in the form of profit.

    Many people opine that murabaha is not necessarily an ideal mode of financing in Islamic

    finance, and hence argue for a more suitable financial tool as a replacement for interest-

    based financing. They view murabaha financing as a stratagem for replicating the economic

    effects of an interest-based loan. This view is, however, flawed. Murabaha differs from an

    interest-bearing loan in a number of ways, including but not limited to the following:

    1. Interest-bearing loans are purely monetary transactions, ie, a lender gives money to a

    borrower who is required to return money, with an additional component (interest).

    Murabaha-based financing, on the other hand, involves trading of real goods and services

    for disclosed profit.

    2. Murabaha-based financing gets the financier involved in the trading of goods and

    services, which is not a requirement in the case of interest-based lending. Given this nature

    of murabaha, it cannot be used for rescheduling of debts. Interest-based lending, on the

    contrary, allows people and businesses to borrow more to pay-off some of their existing

    loans. Thus, interest-based lending may give rise to spiralling debt.

    3. Strictly speaking, there must not be a default penalty in the case of murabaha financing,

    which makes it more compassionate in nature than an interest-bearing loan that in most

    cases allows the lenders to impose additional interest payments in case a borrower fails to

    pay on time. In the actual practice of murabaha financing, a default penalty is imposed by

    financiers to curb the moral hazard on the part of the party receiving finance, but the

    amount of penalty is used for contributing to charity.

    Some people question the excessive use of murabaha financing in Islamic banking on the

    http://www.qfinance.com/dictionary/free-tradehttp://www.qfinance.com/dictionary/interest-ratehttp://www.qfinance.com/dictionary/profit-marginhttp://www.qfinance.com/dictionary/deferred-paymenthttp://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/author/humayun-dar/http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/author/humayun-dar/http://www.qfinance.com/dictionary/deferred-paymenthttp://www.qfinance.com/dictionary/profit-marginhttp://www.qfinance.com/dictionary/interest-ratehttp://www.qfinance.com/dictionary/free-trade
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    grounds that this looks very similar to interest-based lending. This is not a new criticism. In

    fact, the Quranic verse 2:275 Allah has permitted trade and prohibited riba (interest)

    alludes to this criticism based on the close similarity between riba (interest) and trading.

    Thus the Holy Quran very clearly endorses (profit-oriented) trading of goods and services

    while prohibiting interest-based lending, despite the two practices being seemingly similar.

    Many people also criticise murabaha-based financing on the grounds that financiers buy anitem from the market and immediately sell it on to the party seeking finance. This criticism,

    however, does not uphold in the eyes of the sharia, as the sharia does not put any minimum

    limit on the period of ownership of an asset by the seller before he may sell it on. Some of

    the sharia requirements for trading in goods and services are as follows:

    1. It is required that the parties to a transaction are of sound mind and that they decide to

    enter into a trade by free will, without any coercion.

    2. The object of sale must be halal and it must be in existence or ordinarily available in the

    market at the time of the sale.

    3. The seller must own the object of sale before it is sold and delivered to a purchasing party.

    4. An unambiguous price must be mutually agreed and paid by the purchaser to concludethe sale.

    Considering the above requirements, it is clear that the most important requirement for

    trading in goods and services is that the seller must own what they sell to another party.

    Hence, in the above-mentioned murabaha-based financing the real requirement for the

    financing party is to own and then sell the asset to the customer. The duration of ownership

    is not a sharia concern; rather it should be an economic decision. For a trader, the less time

    an item spends in the inventory, the more efficient the trade.

    In addition to trade financing for businesses, there are a number of possible uses of

    murabaha for consumer financing, including but not limited to:

    1. Financing of durable goods like electronics and automobiles;2. Home financing;

    3. Store cards

    In a country such as Pakistan, murabaha-based financing can be used to finance a number

    of activities, including education of children. This can be done by setting up specialised

    murabaha companies for consumer financing. There are already a number of mudaraba

    companies and mudarabas set up under the Mudaraba Companies and Mudarabas

    (Floatation and Control) Ordinance 1980 and subsequent Mudaraba Companies and

    Mudaraba Rules. Such companies are primarily for business financing. The proposed

    murabaha companies must primarily focus on consumer financing. It is important that a

    comprehensive legal framework must be developed to regulate such a business. Therequirement of disclosure of profit in murabaha trading can be used for the regulation of

    profit in consumer financing. This can be used as a policy tool in favour of providing

    affordable consumer financing to selected social groups. For example, if murabaha is used

    for financing of education, then the government may impose a profit ceiling in return for

    offering some tax incentives to the murabaha companies. Similarly, murabaha financing for

    buying computers can also be regulated to promote computer literacy, especially in the rural

    areas where still a large proportion of children have no access to computers.

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    These are only a few examples of the potential role that murabaha can play not only in

    consumer financing but in promoting a wider socio-economic agenda a government may

    seek to implement. A real benefit of promoting murabaha financing will be in terms of

    developing an alternative source of consumer financing on a localised basis. Banks mostly

    operate nation-wide and hence have credit policies that in general do not favour lower-

    income families. Murabaha companies can be set up on a local and regional basis topromote a culture of Islamic credit unions, whereby different non-governmental

    organisations may attempt to join hands with professionals to develop a new model of

    consumer financing, by combining the rigour of banking and finance with the passion of

    charity and philanthropy. If done properly, this may pave the way for a more moral society,

    promoting social responsibility amongst individuals and businesses.

    The writer is shari'a advisor to a number of banks and financial institutions and can be

    contacted at [email protected]

    Murabaha - as a mode of finance

    Originally, murabahah was a particular type of sale and not a mode of financing. The ideal mode of financingaccording to Shariah are mudarabah or musharakah. However in the perspective of the current economiccircumstance there are certain practical difficulties in using mudarabah and musharakah as instruments in everytype of financing. Therefore, the contemporary Shariah experts have allowed, subject to certain conditions, theuse of murabahah on a deferred payment basis as a mode of financing. However, there are two important andessential points which must be remembered in this respect:

    1. It should never be overlooked that originally murabaha was not a mode offinancing. Murabahah is only a device to escape from "interest" and not anideal instrument for carrying out the real economic objects of Islam.Therefore, Murabahah as an instrument of financing should be used as a

    transitory step taken in the process of the Islamization of the economy andits use should be restricted to those cases where mudarabah or musharakahare not practicable.

    2. The murabahah transaction does not come into existence by merelyreplacing the word 'interest' by the words "profit" or "mark-up". Actually,murabahah as a mode of financing, has been allowed by the Shariahscholars with some conditions. Unless these conditions are fully observed,murabahah is not permissible. In fact it is the observance of theseconditions which can draw a clear line of distinction between theinterest-bearing loan and the transaction of murabahah. If these conditionsare not observed, the transaction becomes invalid according to Shariah.

    Basic features of Murabahah financing

    1. Murabahah is not a loan given o interest. It is a sale of a commodity for adeferred price which includes an agreed profit added to the cost.

    2. Being a sale and not a loan, murabahah should fulfill all the conditionsnecessary for a valid sale.

    3. The financier must have a good title to the commodity before he sells it tohis client.

    4. The commodity must come into possession of the financier, whether

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    physically or constructively, in the sense that the commodity must be inthe risk of the financier even though the risk may be for a short period.

    5. The best way for murabahah according to Shariah is that financier himselfpurchases the commodity and keeps it in his own possession or purchasesthe commodity through a third person appointed by him as his agent beforehe sells it to the customer. However, it is also allowed that the financier

    may make the client himself his agent to buy the commodity on his behalf.In this case the client first purchases the commodity on behalf of hisfinancier and takes possession as such. Thereafter, he purchases thecommodity from the financier for a deferred price. His possession of thecommodity in the first instance is in his capacity as an agent of thefinancier. In this capacity he is only a trustee while the ownership vests inthe financier and the risk of the commodity is also borne by the financier asa logical consequence of the ownership. However, when the clientpurchases the commodity from the financier, the ownership as well as therisk is transferred to the client.

    6. As mentioned earlier, the sale cannot take place unless the commoditycomes into the possession of the seller but the seller can sign anagreement to sell even when the commodity is not in his possession. Thesame rule is applicable to murabahah.

    7. In the light of the aforementioned principles, a financial institution can usethe Murabahah mode of financing by adopting the following procedure:

    Firstly, the client and the institution sign an over-all agreement whereby theinstitution promises to sell and the client promises to buy the commodityon an agreed ratio of profit added to the cost.

    Secondly,the institution appoints the client as his agent for purchasing thecommodity on his behalf and an agreement of agency is signed by both theparties

    Thirdly, The client purchases the commodity on behalf of the institution and takesits possession as an agent of the institution

    Fourthly, the client informs the institution that he has purchased the commodity onits behalf and at the same time makes an offer to purchase the commodityfrom the institution.

    Fifthly, the institution accepts the offer and the sale is concluded whereupon theownership as well as the risk of the commodity is transferred to the client.

    All the abovementioned five stages are necessary to effect a valid murabaha sale. The most essential element ofthe transaction is that the commodity must remain in the risk of the institution during the period between thethird and the fifth stage. This is the only feature of murabahah which can distinguish it from an interest-basedtransaction. Therefore, it must be observed with due diligence otherwise the murabahah transaction becomesinvalid according to Shariah.

    8. It is also a necessary condition for the validity of murabahah that thecommodity is purchased from a third party. The purchase of the commodityfrom the client himself on a buy back agreement is not allowed in theShariah. Thus murabahah based on 'buy-back' agreement is nothing more

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    than an interest-based transaction.

    9. The abovementioned procedure of the murabahah financing is a complextransaction in which the parties involved have different capacities atdifferent stages as follows:

    (a) At the first stage, the institution and the client agree to sell and purchase

    a commodity in the future. This is not an actual sale. It is only a promiseto effect a sale in future on a murabahah basis. Therefore, at this stagethe relationship between the institution and the client is that of a promisorand a promisee.

    (b) At the second stage, the relationship between the parties is that of aprincipal and an agent.

    (c) At the third stage, the relationship between the institution and the supplieris that of a buyer and seller.

    (d) At the fourth and fifth stages, the relationship of buyer and seller comesinto existence between the institution and the client and since the sale isaffected on a deferred payment basis the relationship of a creditor anddebtor also emerges between them simultaneously.

    All these capacities must be kept in mind and must come into operation with all their consequential effects eachat its relevant stage and these different capacities should never be mixed up or confused with each other.

    10. The institution may ask the client to furnish security to its satisfaction forthe prompt payment of the deferred price. It may also ask him to sign apromissory note or bill of exchange but it must be after the actual saletakes place i.e. at the fifth stage mentioned above. The reason is that thepromissory note is signed by a debtor in favour of his creditor but therelationship of debtor and creditor between the institution and the clientbegins only at the fifth stage whereupon the actual sale takes placebetween them.

    11. In the event of default by the buyer (client) in respect of the payment ofthe purchase price on the due date, the purchase cannot be increased.However, if he has undertaken in the agreement to pay an amount for acharitable purpose, as mentioned in clause 7 of the rules of Bai'Mu'ajjal, heshall be liable to pay the amount undertaken to be paid by him. However,the amount so recovered from the buyer shall not form part of the incomeof the seller/ the financier. The financier is bound to spend it for acharitable purpose on behalf of the buyer (client).

    What is murabaha financing?

    The Islamic Sharia Law prohibits the payment of interest. To use a mortgage is the most common form to purchase a

    home for many countries. On a conventional mortgage, the borrower needs to pay interest. So, the devoted Muslim

    avoids to purchasing a home.

    A few years ago, only the very rich can really afford to purchase a home. Now, mainstream financial institutions are

    changing to accommodate the Muslim devotees. Financial products are created. So, the Muslims are able to

    purchase a home.

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    As many countries lack the knowledge and language of Quran (Islamic bible), the Muslim scholars is needed to

    review the financial products. This is to make sure that the financial products are halal (permissible). The Muslim

    scholars also look at the money that is use by financial institution. The money must come from permissible sources.

    There are more and more Muslims that is living on a country with different predominantly religion. Naturally, the

    financial institutions are seeing the need to tap the Muslim market. It is believe to be worth in billions.

    The Murabaha and Ijara are the two mortgage refinancing options that meet the Islamic Sharia Law. In English, the

    Murabaha means deferred sale finance. As for Ijara, it means lease to own in English.

    In Murabaha, the borrower pays twenty percent as down payment. So, the borrower needs a substantial amount of

    capital in this option. First, the borrower shops for a home like the conventional mortgage. Next, the borrower pays

    the twenty percent down payment. Then, the financial institution purchases the home for the borrower. In return, the

    financial institution sells the home to borrower on a higher price. The higher price is determined by original price,repayment period, and down payment. Finally, the borrower agrees on the repayment amount and term agreement.

    In Ijara, the borrower looks for a suitable home. After he found a suitable home, the borrower negotiates the price to

    the home owner. When the price is settled, the financial institution purchases the home to gain ownership. Then, the

    borrower agrees to the lease agreement. On top of the lease, the borrower pays additional to pay off the mortgage.

    In any case, the borrower can pay off the mortgage without penalties. In reality, the Murabaha and Ijara are more

    expensive than the conventional mortgage. However, the Muslim devotees feel at ease. They rather pay more as

    long as it is permitted to their religion.

    Technically, the home is sold two times. First, the financial institution purchases the home. Then, the borrower

    purchases the home from financial institution. So, the borrower pays the mortgage refinancing closing costs two

    times. Recently, the mainstream financial institution charges only one closing costs for equality.

    Muslim communities in many countries are growing steadily. It is a dream to purchase a home someday.

    Nevertheless, there will be a few obstacles that will get in the way. It is just natural. Many devotees will feel guilty to

    take part that violates their religion. So, it is okay to pay extra. There are no complains. At first, many devotees think

    that conventional mortgage is the only way to proceed. Times are changing. Mainstream financial institutions bends

    toward their need and religion.

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